[[foldercontrol]]* GameBreaker: The game can create scenarios that make you understand just how terrifying a prospect of World War 3 was to those living or serving in the armed forces at the time.** The human ability to exploit the unlimited aircraft ammunition can make even the hardest missions a cakewalk if those aircraft are armed with appropriate weapons, by a process of simple attrition. Having to defeat a Soviet fleet can be easy if your NATO airbase includes a squadron of [=P3=] Orion aircraft. While intended for anti-sub work, they can each carry 4 harpoon missiles a very long way. Even though they are slow, the missiles aren't fast and most big Soviet fleets can shoot them down, you can repeatedly attack the group until they simply run out of missiles.** NATO lacks the longer range, supersonic attack missiles that the Soviets have. They rely on sub-sonic missiles like the Tomahawk & Harpoon, which are easily shot down by the Soviet fleets which are bristling with anti air and missile weapons.** The 1980's era Soviet Union surface fleet suffers from a lack of air cover due to lacking aircraft carriers. US Aircraft like the [=F-14=] have the ability to pick off any aircraft from well beyond the range of the Soviet aircraft.** Soviet forces in most large scenarios get ''squadrons'' worth of the TU series of long-range maritime bombers like the Backfire, Bear, Badger. Most of these aircraft can carry ''three'' long-range, supersonic missiles that are dual purpose, able to attack both ships and ground bases. A single squadron of 25 Backfires can carry enough missiles to destroy any base in the game or to take out an entire US Carrier group while blazing through the sky on afterburner for extremely long periods of time to reach the target before being intercepted. This is ''realistic'', and in many scenarios, the human player has enough aircraft at their disposal to complete their mission ''without'' using the airbase reload exploit.*** The missiles are supersonic, hard to shoot down and will sink anything short of a carrier or Iowa battleship in one hit (and a carrier or Iowa will only be able to take a handful of hits anyway). To make it ''worse'', they can be loaded with nuclear warheads. ** A NATO fleet with an Iowa battleship can show you just how powerful the 18 inch guns the Iowa is packing are. They will sink any ship in the game in one salvo, since there is ''nothing'' in the inventory of any fleet in the world with enough armour (most ships having little to no armour thanks to the overwhelming ability for modern anti-ship missiles to blow through it) to withstand guns intended to duke it out with the Japanese super-battleships of World War 2.** The Oscar class soviet submarine can be described as Backfire squadron in one boat.

[[folder:{{FandomSpecificPlot}}]]!! FandomSpecificPlot: After the TheGreatPoliticsMessUp in the early 90's there was a scramble to create new scenarios that worked in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some include:* Gorbachev was overthrown in a coup, killed and/or exiled by "Old USSR hardliners" in a replay of RedOctober. The "hardliners" to rebuild the Soviet military machine in about ten days and on the eleventh day launch a surprise attack on Europe.* Ex-Soviet Union "disintegrated" and rogue newly-formed republics attacked NATO/whatever with immense and totally unrealistic assets.* Sometimes the war broke out for no discernible reason ("We are at war for reasons which are not of your concern. Your mission is...")* It could happen that the surprise was SO total that the US had NO assets in the Atlantic, and UK had to go against the Soviets all alone.** If so, USA actually had no assets available for WWIII due to the turmoil caused by the Second Civil War.* NATO/BLUE orders usually started with "FROM THE THEATRE COMMANDER TO TF COMMANDER YYYYYYY".* There were more submarines in the Baltic than in the Atlantic - but all diesel ones.* ''Literature/RedStormRising'' reigned, and if the scenario didn't start with Keflavik already controlled by the Soviets, then NATO had to race to Keflavik before the Soviet got there.** ...Meanwhile, US subs where attacking the Kola Peninsula with Tomahawks...** ...This, of course, if NATO wasn't "resurging" and sending one to three battlegroups into the Barents Sea.* One scenario out of three had a convoy in it.* Captains escorting UNSPEAKABLY VITAL convoys to what-the-place were actually advised to ignore the "ships running aground" messages.* The USA had good reasons to be nervous about the Northern Front, since Norway used to secede from Europe and join the Soviets/CSI at random times,and for no discernible reason.* Once a week a submarine from either side defected, and had to be hunteddown/protected until the defection was complete.* For reasons unknown Qaddafi launched AGAIN random missile strikes against Lampedusa/Sicily, calling the [[SarcasmMode full fury of Italian Navy upon him.]]* Norway was either fully occupied by Soviet Forces on Day 1 of the invasion, OR still hanging by a thread months later.* Months after the conflict began there still were three US carriers and two Kievs in the Atlantic, all with a full complement of airplanes and hi-tech weapons for their battlegroups.* George Bush Sr. was serving a second mandate, and a Second Confrontation with Saddam erupted for some reason or other.* [[HilariousInHindsight Saddam had ''no'' weapons of mass destruction.]]* WWII battles from Midway to the Battle of Britain used to be refought regularly.* Football World Cup "classics" like Italy vs. France, Germany vs. UK and France vs. UK didn't happen on the pitch but on the battlefield.* If France was not "the only ally left to US" then it was the US' bitterest enemy.* Conflicts between Peru and Ecquador were fought in the Indian Ocean![[/folder]]----